I’ve often seen and heard people talk about seeking the will of God. How does that work? Generally in my life I haven’t seen Him write on the wall or speak to me from a burning bush. Sometimes doors are closed and it makes the decision easier. I do believe God sometimes does this, but how do we make decisions when both choices seem like they are the right choice? I asked this question to myself as I strolled along the red cedar river.
As I collected my thoughts I found several ways to actively seek God’s will and concrete ways to make good decisions when faced with two choices that both seem right.
I can’t emphasize enough to spend daily time reading in God’s word this is the foundation. It is the clearest form of God’s word that we have. He doesn’t speak as much face to face as he did with Moses or other prophets but we do have a record of God’s commands and actions for about 4 thousand years. We should listen! For some cases we can directly use God’s word to answer our decision. If God says not to do something we should obey His command. Not every law in the old testament still applies we need to use discernment and pass them through the Law of Christ. This can also help us not be legalistic. Many Jews in the new testament were legalistic. It’s not something we should to hold ourselves too, since it can easily be a stumbling block or be pushed on to others.
Another thing that should always be at the forefront of decisions is prayer. This should always be apart of our routine but I have to mention it again. It can be hard sometimes to find a quiet place to meet with God and tell him what is truly on your heart but in the end it is well worth every minute. I personally feel closest to God in natural beauty.
If through God’s Word and prayer there still isn’t a clear right answer, You might need to evaluate the options and reflect on which choice gives God the most glory. A sermon titled The Glory of God’s Presence₁ came to mind. This sermon defines glory like this:
“Glory is the outward display of inward beauty or worth or perfection. Therefore, when we glorify someone, we are either recognizing his worth or putting his worth on display. Here’s what I mean. A world-class sprinter has the ability within himself to outrun all but the fastest people in the world. He has that ability while he sits on the couch, or while he greets his fans, or even when he goes jogging with his friend. His speed doesn’t go anywhere, but it’s not on display until he lines up on the track next to other world-class sprinters, bursts off of the starting block, and strains forward to reach the finish line first. Now, his speed is on full display, and everyone marvels at it especially because he just showed off his speed next to the fastest people in the world. So, what do the fans in the stands do? They whistle and clap and shout. They praise him for his speed.
The sprinter’s speed is his glory, and the fans glorify him by praising him when they see it on display... Glory is worth on display, or perfection on display, or beauty on display. [In John 12:28] Jesus says, ‘Father, glorify your name!’ In other words, ‘Father, put the perfections, beauty, worth of your name on display.’” - Caleb Ziegler
If the sprinter is in our presence our first instinct would be to complement them on their speed. Our response should be the same with God. He is always present. Why do we often forget that He is so near us? Out of our commitment to Jesus we should try our hardest to give him all the glory due Him. If we spend all our days endlessly giving Him glory it still wouldn’t be everything He deserves. He has given us eternal life, a debt we can never repay. So in everything we do we should make choices that give him the most glory. In action, this means following the spirit of his commands and not trying to toe the line and see how much we can do our own thing while still calling ourselves Christians.
In all this we should not get so caught up that we start thinking every choice is something we should ask God about. If we ask him about preferences like “should I put my right shoe on first or my left shoe?” we will be so busy trying to make a decision that we won’t do anything. When I graduated from high school I was given a book called Just do Something. It emphasizes that we should do something with our lives instead of busily planning everything hence missing out on all the goodness the Lord has for us.
Reference:
1.) Dan Shambro, The Glory of God's Presence [sermon, notes], (ekklesia, 7/23/23), 1